Chicago Cubs rumors: Royals looking at Justin Ruggiano, Carlos Villanueva
By Dan Zinski
Big ticket items Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel may be gone, but the great Cubs sell-off isn’t anywhere near over yet. And one of the next to go could be Friday’s walk-off hero Justin Ruggiano. Per Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com, the Kansas City Royals are targeting both Ruggiano and pitcher Carlos Villanueva.
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Ruggiano is hitting .286 this year for the Cubs with 4 HR and 19 RBI in 147 ABs. He’s been a nice reliable player for the Cubs this year, and he has a little flair for the dramatic as he showed Friday by knocking in the winning run in extra innings against the Braves.
Unlike Ruggiano, Villanueva has been anything but reliable for the Cubs. He’s 4-6 in 2014 with a 6.47 ERA in 24 appearances including 5 starts. The Royals would have to be pretty desperate for relief pitchers to target Villanueva, who has just been dreadful.
Expect lots more Cubs-related rumors to pop up in the coming days. Chicago management has made no secret of their desire to keep selling off pieces and accumulating assets as they look to the future.
Pretty much everyone on Chicago is a trade bait right now, except Anthony Rizzo.
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